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Does Management Matter? Accenture–Stanford Field Experiment in Mumbai Textile Plants

India · Mumbai · See the India profile · See the Mumbai profile

Evidence: Randomised controlled trial Top 74% 57/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

A randomized experiment gave free Accenture consulting to 20 Mumbai textile plants; adopting standard management practices raised productivity 11% in year one via better quality, efficiency and inventory control, and more decentralized decision-making.

+11%
First-year productivity gain, treated plants (year 1)
20 plants across 17 firms
Plants studied
Does Management Matter? Accenture–Stanford Field Experiment in Mumbai Textile Plants

Details

Promoter
Stanford Graduate School of Business, with Accenture (pro bono consulting)
Period
2008-2011
Keywords
textiles, manufacturing, management consulting, productivity

Context

Stanford's Graduate School of Business partnered with Accenture to provide management consulting at roughly half its commercial rate to a randomly selected treatment group among 20 Mumbai textile plants across 17 firms, covering quality monitoring, inventory management and HR processes, while control plants received only a diagnostic report.

Results

Within the first year, treated plants raised average productivity by about 11%, driven by fewer defects, lower inventory and higher output, and shifted toward more decentralised decision-making and greater computer use; a follow-up paper on persistence found gains only partially held once consulting was withdrawn.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Short (< 1 year)
Staffing & skills
Accenture management consultants covering quality, inventory and HR processes

Conditions for success

  • providing hands-on consulting rather than only a diagnostic report
  • supporting a shift toward more decentralised decision-making and greater computer use

Common failure modes

  • a follow-up paper on persistence found productivity gains only partially held once the consulting support was withdrawn

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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